In the packaging of many products including, but not limited to, food products such as pizza pies, cakes and other pies, it is important to have a container which protects the product. In many instances, the container may also need to be relatively inexpensive and disposable. When the container is relatively large and/or made of inexpensive materials, the container lid may have a tendency to sag in the middle. This creates an undesirable situation as the lid may damage or mark the product. In the pizza industry, for example, a problem occurs when a hot pizza is placed into a box for delivery to a customer, or when the customer orders a pizza for carry-out. Heat and moisture in the box and/or downward pressure exerted to the lid causes the lid of the box to become concave and sometimes come in contact with the pizza. Careless handling in the delivery process may also cause this problem. When contact is made with the hot cheese, the ingredients stick to the box and are pulled off the pizza when the box is opened. The result is an unhappy customer. The present invention pertains to an article for supporting the lid of the container so that the lid will not sag nor damage the product that is stored or carried in the container.
Prior art efforts to support the lids of containers and described in U.S. patents include the following:
Vitale, U.S. Pat. No. 4,498,586, pertains to a molded plastic device which is used in boxes or packages, such as pizza boxes, where there is a tendency for large cover portions to sag downward and damage the soft pizza or other contents. The device is placed centrally on the pie or other product to support the cover during storage and delivery. The device is unitary and, in its preferred form, has spaced vertical legs which are connected to a cover support. The lower portions of the legs have a minimal but flat cross section to minimize marking of the protected article.
Cohen, U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,843 discloses a one piece folded carton for food containment which has a detachable support element which can be folded and interlocked into a collar-like structure to be placed onto the item of food to provide central support to the lid of the carton. This invention is said to be useful in packaging pizza and the like for transportation and storage.
Beck, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,609, pertains to a combination serving utensil and pizza container support. The device has a server portion appropriate to serve a slice of pizza, and an upstanding portion which has a vertical dimension which approximates the height of the container. The latter portion serves as a lid support and is attached to another portion, which runs horizontal to the server portion, and can be used as a handle to grasp the utensil in order to serve the slice of pizza.
Brown U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,050 pertains to a pastry holding rack with upstanding prong elements, four of which project vertically from the bottom section of the box and prevent the product within from sliding horizontally and prevent the lid from coming in direct contact with the product that is held within the container.
While recognizing these prior art efforts, there remains a need for improvement. In contrast to the above container structures, it is an object of the present invention to provide a lid support that can be attached directly to the container at the container manufacturer or at any chosen site. This would simplify the process of inventory management at the food packing site by eliminating the need to locate, order and maintain a supply of containers and lid supports separately. In turn, this would reduce the amount of labor time spent in obtaining and maintaining both items, it would simplify inventory records, and it would provide a manner of ensuring that the correct number of lid supports desired per container would be consistently available. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a lid support system that can improve sanitary conditions within the package at the food packing site by eliminating the need to handle separate lid supports, which otherwise could be dropped in unsanitary areas. Another object of the present invention is to provide uniformity in the placement of the lid supports and to ensure that every package is supplied with a lid support. So it is a general object of the present invention to provide an easily manufactured, easily applied, relatively inexpensive, sanitary and convenient means to inhibit box lid sagging.